2016-02-20: Celtic 3-0 Inverness CT, SP

Match Pictures | Matches: 2015 – 2016 | 2015-16 Pictures

Trivia

  • Deila a lucky man as Inverness CT beat Aberdeen in the league during past week to give Celtic some breathing space in the league, and dampens down hopes of a league challenge.
  • Shay Logan has hailed Aberdeen as ‘the Scottish Leicester and insisted all clubs, bar Celtic, are united in hoping Derek McInnes’ men win the title.
  • Celtic call on Ajax to oppose Champions League proposals. Celtic Chief Exec Peter Lawwell and SFA’s Neil Doncaster are attempting to pull together a pan European rescue team to block the creation of an invitation only Champions League which would kill off many big teams in smaller leagues.
  • Cross support banners around Scotland against the Football bills in place.
  • Paper talk: PSV Eindhoven chairman Harry van Raaij – the man behind the aborted plan to set up a cross Atlantic border league – has confirmed a consortium of businessmen based in England have approached him as they bid to resurrect the idea which was booted into touch by UEFA in the summer of 2000. (Not all convinced this is in anyway true or a solution).
  • Cork City have confirmed the signing of Ireland under-21 defender Eoghan O’Connell on loan from Celtic until July. The 20-year-old Corkman has made five league appearances for Celtic over three seasons since making his debut at the tail end of the 2013/14 season as a starter against Ross County.
  • Tom Rogic given new deal, quite a turnaround after being mostly written off just prior to his return from loan to clubs in Australia.
  • In England, incredibly rank outsiders Leicseter on way to make history to win the English Premier League. Set-back as lost to nearest rivals Arsenal 2-0 on prior Sunday, but still doing well, on course.
  • Kristoffer Ajer signs for Celtic, completely out of the blue. Celtic agreed a fee with FK Start for the 17-year-old to join the Glasgow club in the summer. Interesting move but another midfielder on top of the stockpile already on the books.
  • Rumours were flying about that Ronny Deila had been sacked. Complete rubbish.
  • St Johnstone have taken ex-Real Madrid and West Ham winger Julien Faubert on trial. What a change. The 32-year-old has been a free agent since leaving Bordeaux in 2015.

Review[Untitled]

(tatical g of KDS)
The first half was brutal but even then we were far better than Caley for the first twenty-five, then they broadly took over from the point they should have scored from the free kick.

We came out better in the second half with Brown, Bitton and Boyata all having obviously been given instructions to move further forward and press the play further up. we still proved vulnerable and it was only a few minutes before we scored that their centre-forward went one-on-one with Gordon and they could/should have scored again. After GMS scored it was only Celtic and it was genuinely entertaining when the three subs were on. I hadn't been overly impressed with Allan to date. Obviously able to play a great pass but had been more likely to give the ball and fouls away from what I'd seen. Yesterday he was excellent and the pick of the three substitutes.

What is surprising me from this thread is the lack of credit RD is getting for putting the three subs on. I said at half time that any of the there attackers behind Griffiths could be subbed and it transpired they were. In the second half GMS did much better second half, Johannsen won the ball back a few times high up the park but proved more likely to frustrate than contribute and Amstrong was just terrible again. The fact the game was effectively won was important to the context that the three subs could play a bit freer but on the other hand there's been a lot of occasions where subs have come on in the same circumstances and it has seemed to kill any momentum we had. Their positive impact said a lot about them, to me. The three subs were the ones I think everyone would have liked to see and Deila should be given credit for trying it. He knows if they played well he'd be under pressure to pick them and he didn't wimp out. I don't know about starting all three next time but Allan for Armstrong at least seems very likely. And Rogic back in for Johannsen when TR is fit also seems a good bet if he isn't supplanted by Christie or Roberts before Rogic if fully fit.

Interesting wee thing – Griffiths seemed to drop from right up front more towards the inside-right channel when Christie came on. Christie was in the middle and was often in front of Griffiths. A few times it looked very like a withdrawn 2 up in a sort of 4-2-4-0 than the rigid 4-2-3-1. May just have been a facet of Griffiths being all over the place yesterday but it seemed deliberate. In any event, the football between the front four was improved so it worked.

RD had a crap performance in the first half, got them to play better in the second half, won it and got three exciting young talents on, giving to options to improve the team in the next few games. Basically positive for me and one would hope he would be able to demand and receive more of the second half-type performances in coming games.

Teams

Celtic

  • 1Gordon
  • 23Lustig
  • 20Boyata
  • 28Sviatchenko Booked at 45mins
  • 63Tierney
  • 6Bitton
  • 8Brown
  • 16Mackay-Steven Substituted for Roberts at 82'minutes
  • 25Johansen Substituted for Christie at 67'minutes
  • 14Armstrong Substituted for Allan at 63'minutes
  • 9Griffiths

Substitutes

  • 13Kazim-Richards
  • 15Commons
  • 17Christie
  • 19Allan
  • 21Mulgrew
  • 26Bailly
  • 27Roberts

Goals

  • Mackay-Steven (54' minutes),
  • Griffiths (59' minutes, 90'+3 minutes)

Inverness CT

  • 25Fon Williams
  • 17Horner Substituted for L Hughes at 78'minutes
  • 5Warren Booked at 52mins
  • 14Devine
  • 3Tremarco
  • 16Tansey Substituted for Williams at 88'minutes
  • 8Draper
  • 20Polworth
  • 27Vigurs
  • 11Roberts Substituted for Mbuyi-Mutombo at 72'minutes
  • 39Storey

Substitutes

  • 1Esson
  • 7Williams
  • 15Wedderburn
  • 21L Hughes
  • 28Mbuyi-Mutombo
  • 34Brown
  • 38MacLennan

Referee: Don Robertson
Attendance: 43,600

Articles

  • Match Report (see end of page below)

Pictures

Forum

MOTM

Stats

Celtic Inverness CT

Possession
Home53%
Away47%

Shots
Home16
Away8

Shots on Target
Home6
Away3

Corners
Home6
Away5

Fouls
Home9
Away7

Articles

Celtic 3 – 0 Inverness: Celtic extend lead at top of table
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/competitions/premiership/celtic-3-0-inverness-celtic-extend-lead-at-top-of-table-1-4035167
ANDREW SMITH

THE end just belied the meanness of what Celtic gave to the first period yesterday. The erratic nature of his team is what has undermined Ronny Deila’s tenure. Ultimately, though, despite looking second best to an impressive Inverness Caledonian Thistle for 45 minutes, the day delivered for the Scottish champions.

The serenity of a six-point lead over Aberdeen was secured with a 3-0 win earned with a double that continued 32-goal Leigh Griffiths’ remarkable scoring form.

Moreover, home huff and puff gave way to breezy play in the closing stages as Scott Allan, Ryan Christie and £12m Manchester City on-loan winger Patrick Roberts formed the attacking trident behind Griffiths.

Perhaps it was easy for the trio owing to the fact that, as soon as Celtic went two-up on the hour, John Hughes’ side lost the belief that threatened to see them take a second monumental scalp across a week that began with Monday’s defeat of Aberdeen.

However, there was no question that the crowd cursing with consternation were lifted by Allan and Christie’s 20-odd minute cameos – the latter given his longest run in a Celtic jersey – and the ten minutes that showed Roberts’ pace and directness which might have brought him a couple of goals. Allan too could have finished off a couple of smart moves.

Deila defended the men these three replaced, with opening scorer Gary Mackay-Steven praised for tiring out teams and the solidity offered by fans-favourite-to-barrack Stefan Johansen and Stuart Armstrong.

Yet he acknowledged there were serious issues with his team’s approach. “In the first half we didn’t create enough, it was sideways and too slow, but in the second half we are more direct and get more movement and also the subs coming on were lively, that’s a positive thing.”

Deila accepted that “flair” was offered by their replacements, and Christie himself warmed to such a theme.

“I think me and Scotty and Patrick are all similar players and want to show a bit of flair and get on the ball and are desperate to get on the park and show what we can do,” the former Inverness player said, admitting it was “a strange experience” to come on “against boys I played with a couple of months ago”.

But his mind soon channelled to other thoughts: “As soon as all of us step on the park we want to prove a point. We are trying to make an impact to get in that starting XI, so we’re all raring to go. Obviously I’m just in the door and back from injury so I’m finding my feet right now but it is a great team to be part of and I can definitely see a big future with the young talent we’ve got.”

Yet, the opening period was all about Inverness’s talent for playing smart, compact football with an intensity and sharpness that made a sluggish Celtic appear entirely inadequate. Marc Warren passed up a glaring free header, Ross Draper did not make the most of a shooting opportunity and a 4-v-2 break was not capitalised on. The turning point, though, came in the opening minutes of the second period when Jordan Roberts, clean through on goal after outpacing Erik Sviatchenko, shot straight at a grateful Craig Gordon.

The price for that was paid when the ball was pushed around the box by a number of players before Mackay-Steven struck with a thunderbolt drive in the 53rd minute. Within seven minutes Griffiths had settled all home anxieties when he collected a pass with his back to goal, spun sweetly and darted past a couple of markers before slotting into the far corner. A clinical finish, that was matched by his slotted-in low effort in the final seconds that followed Christie feeding Allan to tee him up from 20 yards.

“In terms of my boys I can’t ask any more from them,” said Hughes. “They are giving me everything that they have got. On another day if we took our chances it might have been a different game. I thought our shape was very, very good.

“I felt we gave as good as we got in the first half. We frustrated them with our passing. And just through experience I knew that chances would come with the shape that we had set up and they did. So that is the first half done and dusted – great, well done lads. Don’t get complacent. Because I have been here before and it is 0-0 at half time and they score in the first five after the break. So to lose it ten minutes in was bitterly disappointing.”

Read more: http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/competitions/premiership/celtic-3-0-inverness-celtic-extend-lead-at-top-of-table-1-4035167#ixzz40ppOCxl6
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Celtic boss Ronny Deila insists winning takes priority at the moment
By Charlie McFaulds
http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11787/10175553/celtic-boss-ronny-deila-insists-winning-takes-priority-at-the-moment
Last Updated: 20/02/16 8:32pm

Ryan Christie [left], Patrick Roberts [centre] and Scott Allan [right] all came on for Celtic
Ryan Christie [left], Patrick Roberts [centre] and Scott Allan [right] all came on for Celtic

Celtic boss Ronny Deila insists winning was the priority following the 3-0 victory over Inverness CT.

The win was achieved by a goal from Gary Mackay-Steven and a brace from Leigh Griffiths, and moves Celtic six points clear of Aberdeen at the top of the table having now played the same number of games.

Deila has been criticised for his open style of play this season, but opted to take no risks against opponents who defeated title challengers Aberdeen 3-1 on Monday.

His decision to introduce youngsters Scott Allan, Ryan Christie and Patrick Roberts following two quick goals after the interval seemed to lift Celtic as they ran out comfortable winners having failed to ruffle Inverness for the opening 50 minutes.

While Celtic fans have only seen fleeting glimpses of attacking midfielders Allan and Christie since their arrivals, both excited the crowd along with Roberts in an entertaining finale, and Deila can understand the appeal.

Deila said: "It is always fun to have presents, when you don't know what you get.
Inverness CT boss John Hughes shakes hands with Celtic manager Ronnie Deila [right]
Inverness CT boss John Hughes shakes hands with Celtic manager Ronnie Deila [right]

"They have skills that can open defences and take people on and they showed that today and that is very positive.

"They had energy and looked like they really wanted to show themselves and I think I would expect that when they come at Celtic Park.

"When you are 2-0 up it is a different ball game. There is more space but in the end we won as a team and that is a positive thing.

"But they played with the confidence and worked hard and that is the combination I am looking for."

Although Celtic had been second best in a first-half which Gary Warren missed an open goal, Deila resisted the chance to make changes at the interval, stressing his side had to be in a commanding position before he brought on the entertainers.

The former Stromsgodset manager said: "I could have (made changes at the break) but maybe we wouldn't have won the game. It is hard to say.

"Every team comes from solid defence first of all, that is the first thing. If you are open then there are problems.

"We have a very hard-working team. Maybe there is not so much creativity in the starting eleven but you know that they are going to do the hard work and that is important, and it is also good that we have players who can come on like today.

"Then we need to get this together, the hard work and the flair."
Leigh Griffiths scoring his 32nd goal of the season as Celtic beat Inverness CT 3-0
Leigh Griffiths scoring his 32nd goal of the season as Celtic beat Inverness CT 3-0

As well as the Warren opportunity, Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon saved from Jordan Roberts when he ran through on goal in the opening minutes of the second half.

And Inverness boss John Hughes rued the missed chances, but believes his side were still in the game until Griffiths struck his first goal on 59 minutes.

"On another day, if we took our chances it might have been a different game," Hughes said.

"I felt our shape was very good and we gave as good as we got in the first half and, when we did have the ball, our passing was very good and through experiences I knew the chances would come.

"To lose a goal 10 minutes into the second half was very disappointing.

"But I have seen many a boxer knocked down come back and win the fight and I said that to them so it was the second one that killed us.

"But I can't ask any more from them. I am getting everything that they've got."

BBC

By Tom English

BBC Scotland

From the section Football

Celtic's Leigh Griffiths celebrates
Leigh Griffiths scored twice in the second half for Celtic

Celtic survived a real test against Inverness Caledonian Thistle to move six points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership.

The visitors to Celtic Park wasted three excellent chances before Gary Mackay-Steven opened the scoring after half-time.

Leigh Griffiths added the second within the space of five minutes.

Griffiths fired a third late on. It was the Scotland striker's 32nd goal of an increasingly impressive season.

For Celtic, a stressful day ended happily with an important win and the sight of Patrick Roberts, their loan signing from Manchester City, making a bright debut.

Celtic finished the match with a convincing attacking midfield trio of Scott Allan, Ryan Christie and Roberts. The three of them combined to set up Griffiths, who rifled home in typically ruthless fashion.
Celtic's Gary Mackay-Steven finds the target
Gary Mackay-Steven fired Celtic into the lead against Caley Thistle

Caley Thistle have made strides in the last few months, moving from ninth in the Premiership in mid-December to sixth before this game on the back of an impressive run.

In fairness, they took their confidence with them on the road south. The only problem was that they left their finishing power behind.

John Hughes' team played some terrific stuff and caused Celtic an amount of trouble before the champions found themselves,

Their profligacy was terminal and it started as early as the 18th minute, when an Iain Vigurs free-kick on the left was completely missed by Craig Gordon.

Standing alone behind the goalkeeper was Gary Warren, who duly missed the target with a header that could comfortably be described as a sitter.

Celtic huffed and puffed, but the best moments all belonged to Inverness.

Just after the half-hour, they had a breakaway and a four-on-two with the Celtic defence. They butchered the moment through their own indecision and the marvellous work-rate of Griffiths, who made the key intervention in his own penalty area.

There was a restless mood inside the stadium. Celtic's attacking midfield trio of Stuart Armstrong, Stefan Johansen and Mackay-Steven were passive and error-prone and their supporters were not slow in telling them.
Highlights – Celtic 3-0 Inverness CT
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Highlights – Celtic 3-0 Inverness CT

Boos rang out at the break and, within three minutes of the restart, Inverness were in again. It was another counter-attack, after Mackay-Steven had been hustled off the ball.

Jordan Roberts went by the one-paced Erik Sviatchenko with a gob-smacking ease, but his effort was weak and Gordon dealt with it.

That was the sliding doors moment for the visitors. Within 11 minutes, Celtic had scored twice and the game was up.

In those moments, Hughes, standing motionless on the touchline, must have pondered football's capacity to inflict pain.

Mackay-Steven scored the first after Inverness took too long to get rid of a loose ball, the midfielder snapping his shot past goalkeeper Owain Fon Williams.

Then it was Griffiths – unsurprisingly – who added a second when he went on a diagonal run across the Inverness penalty area and then fired across Fon Williams and into the corner of his net.

Celtic bossed it from there. Johansen should have made it three but missed, much to the chagrin of the home crowd.

Their top scorer's second, and Celtic's third, was a classic moment of Griffiths efficiency, aided and abetted by three young players who warrant a lot more game time in the coming months.

Live Text

Posted at
Match ends, Celtic 3, Inverness CT 0.
Full Time
Posted at 90'+4'
Second Half ends, Celtic 3, Inverness CT 0.
Goal!
Posted at 90'+3'
Goal! Celtic 3, Inverness CT 0. Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) left footed shot from outside the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Scott Allan.
Posted at 90'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Danny Devine.
Posted at 89'
Corner, Inverness CT. Conceded by Dedryck Boyata.
Substitution
Posted at 88'
Substitution, Inverness CT. Ryan Williams replaces Greg Tansey.
Posted at 88'
Attempt missed. Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) left footed shot from the left side of the box is close, but misses to the left.
Posted at 87'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Danny Devine.
Posted at 87'
Attempt blocked. Patrick Roberts (Celtic) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Posted at 86'
Foul by Mikael Lustig (Celtic).
Posted at 86'
Andrea Mbuyi-Mutombo (Inverness CT) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Posted at 85'
Dedryck Boyata (Celtic) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Posted at 85'
Foul by Andrea Mbuyi-Mutombo (Inverness CT).
Posted at 84'
Attempt missed. Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) left footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left.
Posted at 84'
Attempt saved. Greg Tansey (Inverness CT) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top left corner.
Posted at 83'
Foul by Dedryck Boyata (Celtic).
Posted at 83'
Liam Hughes (Inverness CT) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution
Posted at 82'
Substitution, Celtic. Patrick Roberts replaces Gary Mackay-Steven.
Substitution
Posted at 78'
Substitution, Inverness CT. Liam Hughes replaces Lewis Horner.
Posted at 76'
Corner, Inverness CT. Conceded by Craig Gordon.
Posted at 76'
Attempt saved. Ross Draper (Inverness CT) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner.
Posted at 75'
Corner, Inverness CT. Conceded by Kieran Tierney.
Substitution
Posted at 72'
Substitution, Inverness CT. Andrea Mbuyi-Mutombo replaces Jordan Roberts.
Posted at 71'
Ryan Christie (Celtic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Posted at 71'
Foul by Danny Devine (Inverness CT).
Posted at 71'
Foul by Nir Bitton (Celtic).
Posted at 71'
Jordan Roberts (Inverness CT) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Posted at 68'
Attempt saved. Greg Tansey (Inverness CT) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Substitution
Posted at 67'
Substitution, Celtic. Ryan Christie replaces Stefan Johansen.
Posted at 66'
Attempt saved. Stefan Johansen (Celtic) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner.
Substitution
Posted at 63'
Substitution, Celtic. Scott Allan replaces Stuart Armstrong.
Goal!
Posted at 59'
Goal! Celtic 2, Inverness CT 0. Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Kieran Tierney.
Posted at 58'
Foul by Stuart Armstrong (Celtic).
Posted at 58'
Liam Polworth (Inverness CT) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Posted at 57'
Attempt missed. Nir Bitton (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is too high.
Goal!
Posted at 54'
Goal! Celtic 1, Inverness CT 0. Gary Mackay-Steven (Celtic) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner.
Booking
Posted at 52'
Gary Warren (Inverness CT) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Posted at 52'
Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Posted at 52'
Foul by Gary Warren (Inverness CT).
Posted at 48'
Attempt blocked. Jordan Roberts (Inverness CT) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Posted at 47'
Attempt missed. Stuart Armstrong (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left.
Posted at 46'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Greg Tansey.
Posted at 46'
Attempt blocked. Gary Mackay-Steven (Celtic) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Second Half
Posted at
Second Half begins Celtic 0, Inverness CT 0.
Half Time
Posted at 45'+2'
First Half ends, Celtic 0, Inverness CT 0.
Posted at 45'+2'
Corner, Inverness CT. Conceded by Mikael Lustig.
Posted at 45'+1'
Foul by Gary Mackay-Steven (Celtic).
Posted at 45'+1'
Iain Vigurs (Inverness CT) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Booking
Posted at 45'
Erik Sviatchenko (Celtic) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Posted at 45'
Foul by Erik Sviatchenko (Celtic).
Posted at 45'
Jordan Roberts (Inverness CT) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Posted at 44'
Attempt missed. Kieran Tierney (Celtic) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left.
Posted at 41'
Attempt saved. Stuart Armstrong (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Posted at 40'
Attempt missed. Greg Tansey (Inverness CT) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right.
Posted at 38'
Foul by Nir Bitton (Celtic).
Posted at 38'
Liam Polworth (Inverness CT) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Posted at 35'
Delay in match Stuart Armstrong (Celtic) because of an injury.
Posted at 33'
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Posted at 32'
Delay in match Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) because of an injury.
Posted at 32'
Attempt missed. Stuart Armstrong (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left.
Posted at 30'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Greg Tansey.
Posted at 26'
Corner, Inverness CT. Conceded by Gary Mackay-Steven.
Posted at 26'
Attempt blocked. Ross Draper (Inverness CT) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked.
Posted at 23'
Scott Brown (Celtic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Posted at 23'
Foul by Jordan Roberts (Inverness CT).
Posted at 21'
Dedryck Boyata (Celtic) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Posted at 21'
Foul by Miles Storey (Inverness CT).
Posted at 20'
Scott Brown (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Posted at 20'
Foul by Lewis Horner (Inverness CT).
Posted at 19'
Attempt saved. Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) left footed shot from a difficult angle on the left is saved in the centre of the goal.
Posted at 17'
Attempt missed. Lewis Horner (Inverness CT) header from the right side of the six yard box is close, but misses to the left.
Posted at 17'
Foul by Dedryck Boyata (Celtic).
Posted at 17'
Miles Storey (Inverness CT) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Posted at 13'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Lewis Horner.
Posted at 13'
Attempt blocked. Stefan Johansen (Celtic) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Posted at 11'
Kieran Tierney (Celtic) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Posted at 11'
Foul by Lewis Horner (Inverness CT).
Posted at 5'
Attempt missed. Miles Storey (Inverness CT) right footed shot from the right side of the box is too high.
Posted at 4'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Greg Tansey.
Posted at 3'
Attempt blocked. Gary Mackay-Steven (Celtic) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Posted at 2'
Greg Tansey (Inverness CT) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Posted at 2'
Foul by Leigh Griffiths (Celtic).
Kick Off
Posted at
First Half begins.
Lineups are announced and players are warming up.